World Women’s Chess Championship (August 28th – September 18th) – Sixty-four players gather in Nalchik, Russia for the Women’s crown. The top seed is Humpy Koneru of India, but she will be challenged by defending champion Xu Yuhua and Hou Yifan both of China and Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria.

Masters Grand Slam in Bilboa, Spain (September 1st -13th) – Six of the world’s top players will face off in the scenic town of Bilboa for one of the strongest chess events in history. With Viswanthan Anand (India), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Magnus Carslen (Norway), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Levon Aronian (Armenia) and Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), the six players tip the scales at 2775 ELO average! The stakes are high as the winning will carry home 400,000 euros or 585,000 U.S. dollars.

(September 10th-14th) – The 2nd Miami Open will be held in beautiful south beach and hopes to improve on its successful debut. Taken from the themiamichessopen.com website,

The grandmasters Irina Krush, two times US Women Champion, and Alexander Shabalov, four times US Men Champion, announced recently they will repeat his participation in the Miami Chess Open that will be played September 10-14 in the Magic City.

Some other strong players, as grandmasters Varuzhan Akobian, Viktor Mikhalevsky, Darmen Sadvakasov, Julio Becerra and Gilberto Hernández will also return to play the second edition of this tournament, with USD 100,000 in prizes.

The new faces will be the US grandmasters Alexander Ivanov, and Dmitri Gurevich, and the Mexican Juan Carlos Gonzalez.

29 Responses to “World Chess Beat (September 2008)”

In this video, you have some intriguing discussion with some of the women’s top players. Very interesting to hear them speak of chess and offer their unique views. Jilin Zhang of China is very impressive, articulates well and shows that China has more talent coming through the pipeline. IM Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia, GM Hoang Tranh Trang of Hungary and India’s IM Dronavali Harika join the panel.

In a breaking story a controversy reigned in an Armeggedon match between IM Monika Socko (Poland) and WIM Sabina-Francesca Foisor (Romania). The game ended in a time scramble. The following story was posted at ChessBase.

The game ends in the time default against Sabina-Francesca Foisor. The relevant section start at 1 min 20 sec in the video below, and after the wild action the position is reduced to king and knight vs king and knight. Foisor signals with a hand shrug (1 min 36 sec on the video) that the game is drawn. But she plays on until her clock run out.

Black ran out of time. Is it still a draw?

Watch the video. (Note: The commentary is in Russian, but there is enough English to understand.)

This is a common dispute in blitz games on whether there is mating material. In general the game is a draw, but the difference here is Foisor allowed her flag to fall. In this game white got six minutes to black’s five, but had to win and black only had to draw to advance. Socko quickly showed Chief Arbiter Zsuzsa Veroci (Hungary) that you can construct a mate in K+N vs. K+N.

Deputy Chief Arbiter Mikko Markkula (Finland) insisted that such a position can be constructed only with cooperation. Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE Deputy President and Chairman of the Appeals Committee, got involved, but it is unclear what role he played. Socko got on the phone and called respected arbiter Andzhey Filipowicz (Poland). After this it was ruled that Socko indeed was the winner. I would think it was because of Foisor’s time forfeit than anything else.

The second round has begun and the first games have produced a couple of upsets. Defending champion Xu Yuhua lost to Svetlana Matveeva of Russia. She will need to win to keep her hopes for a repeat alive. China’s Zhao Xue lost to her compatriot Shen Yang.

Hou Yifan is still on track after winning her game against Mongolian Bathuyang Mongontuul. Mongolians have the strongest-sounding names in the world, but she will need all of her strength to knock Hou of her course.

It is this type of blitz/speed chess debate that keeps the sport off of television. You have to institute a consistent way to handle controversy across all types of lines.
The arbiter/tournament director will not necessarily make the same ruling on the same situation in another tournament.

After a rest day, the Women’s World Championship with continue tomorrow minus the defending champion, Xu Yuhua. She was bounced from the competition by Russia’s Svetlana Matveeva and will hope that here three compatriots will bring home another title. China has had three World Champions over the past 15 years.

The “Sweet Sixteen” will be whittled down to eight and I am picking China to send at least two players on. Humpy Koneru needs to be careful against Hoang Thanh Trang because she’s had a long lay off with the bye and the rest day. I’m looking for a few upsets in this round.

China’s Hou Yifan keeps on rolling. She crushed Italy’s Elena Sedina and has won every game thus far. She has yet to be tested, but she seems to be playing solid chess these days. Legendary Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling and fellow GM Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria have played well. Russia’s Alexandra Kosteniuk was held by her compatriot Tatjana Kosintseva, a rising star. Humpy Koneru doesn’t look that sharp at this point.

Viswanathan Anand gets crushed by Veselin Topalov in 25 moves. I remember Anand got crushed by Garry Kasparov in about 20 moves in an Evans Gambit. This match was highly anticipated and it is possible the two could meet again for the TOTALLY unified championship. The ChessBase report is also claiming that Magnus Carlsen of Norway is #1 of the LIVE rating list. Carlsen beat Teimour Radjabov in a wild Dragon.

Pia Cramling just played a powerful game against Antoaneta Stefanova. Humpy Koneru crushed Shen Yang with a vicious kingside attack. Hou Yifan drew with Lilit Mkrtchian as did Alexander Kosteniuk with Anna Usehinina.

I personally don’t think it’s a good thing to champion Magnus Carlsen as the world’s #1 player. It’s an affront to Viswanathan Anand and furthermore, it’s misleading. If this tournament ends and Anand is back on top, it will lead to a lot of confusion. I suppose the chess world is looking for a story.

The Women’s World Chess Championship has been whittled down to four contestants… all capable winning “the big one.” The pair of matchups will promise excitment and will guarantee and “East vs. West” finale. The semifinal matchups are:

The first matchup is an interesting encounter and Koneru Humpy is trying to complete something that has never been done in quite a long time… if ever. India currently has the World Champion, both Junior Champions (male and female) and only need the Women’s crown to complete a sweep of major titles. Of course China’s Hou Yifan is trying to keep the crown in China and continue the line of domination in women’s chess. Both Hou and Humpy have played each other a number of time and this will prove to be a tough match.

India’s Koneru Humpy will try to complete total dominance of four major titles by Indians… World Champion and both World Junior (male and female) titles are currently under the Indian flag. Photo by ChessBase.

Alexandra Kosteniuk is trying to hold her home turf by finally winning the crown. She was a semi-finalist back in 2001 losing to Zhu Chen. She has gone on record as saying she would very much like to win the championship. In doing so, she will have to beat a wily veteran in Pia Cramling who has vast experience and is the type of player that may cause Kosteniuk problems. Cramling ousted former champion Antoaneta Stefanova and has her eye on the crown. Stay tuned!

Magnus Carlsen beat Levon Aronian in a very impressive game and takes a lead over the field by one point. He is in a virtual tie with Veselin Topalov, but the Bilboa scoring awards three points for a win and one for a draw.

Hou Yifan played impressively against Koneru Humpy as she beat her archrival with a queenside invasion and demolition from the rear. This puts the Indian on the brink of elimination and if Hou wins she will be able to play for the title. Alexandra Kosteniuk played with good energy in her win against veteran Pia Cramling’s French Defense. The Swede fell into a passive position and the Russian bore down on her king and hit her with a tactical parting shot.

Humpy will be looking for a win but it is hard to see her beating Hou the way she mauled Shen Yang. Hou will play solidly and secure her place in the final. She is playing with good energy. Alexandra Kosteniuk also stands to make it to the final since Cramling will be forced to come out of her positional style to snatch a point. Edge to Hou and Kosteniuk.

Kosteniuk advances by holding Cramling in a tough struggle. The Swede played aggressively and built up a strong attacking position. The game reached a climax when pieces clashed but when the smoke cleared, Kosteniuk was able to force a draw by repetition.

Humpy came roaring back to keep her chances alive by beating Hou Yifan in a surprising finish. The game was exciting and in a tense moment pieces were zipping throughout the board. In a seemingly better position, Hou lost the thread on 32…Nxa5?? and Humpy pounced with a devasting combination. Hou’s king ended up walking into a fatal attack as the black queen was unable to aid the king’s safety. Devastating loss!

The 2008 European Individual Championshipsare underway in Liverpool with 38 Grandmasters including top seed Michael Adams (2735). There are 138 players from approximately 15 countries throughout Europe.

The tournament began with a bit of controversy when GM Nigel Short forfeited against Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant when his cell phone gave a warning beep for a depleted battery. While the arbiter was not present Short showed a bit of sportsmanship and informed his opponent of his intention to forfeit the game.

Hou Yifan advances! Hou and Humpy split the rapid tiebreak games. Humpy allowed an initiative in the first and allow Hou to convert. In the second game, Hou collapsed in time pressure and ended up getting mated.

Moving on the 5-minute blitz encounter, Hou won both games to advance to the final against Kosteniuk. The final blitz encounter was blow-for-blow with tactical flourishes in full display. When the smoke cleared Hou built a dominating position with two rooks doubled on the seventh and a poisonous passede-pawn. Humpy had to resign and it ended the quest of India to capture all the major world individual titles at once.

The Bilboa tournament is over and Veselin Topalov won tournament ending with a nice effort over Vassily Ivanchuk and thereby throwing the FIDE October ratings up in the air. Viswanathan Anand drew with Magnus Carlsen while Teimour Radjabov crushed Levon Aronian.

GM Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)

Topalov finished with 6.5/10 and 17 points (win=3 pts, draw=1pt.). Anand came in dead last and surprisingly scored no wins and was on the wrong side of a 25-move loss. Many suspect he is saving his preparation for his match with Vladimir Kramnik. However, this is not a good sign.

GM-elect Josh Friedel reports that IM Ray Robson is on a perfect 5/5 at the Miami Open. Hurricane Ike deterred a larger field, but there are a handful of GMs and a slew of IMs. Marc Esserman trails with 4.5 and IM John Bartholomew is tied with IM Dionisio Aldama with 4 points.

The highest GM is Julio Becerra with 3.5 points along with former World Junior Champion Darmen Sadvakasov . IM Andrei Florean has upset GMs Alexander Shabalov and held GMs Becerra, Victor Mikhalevski and Jaan Ehlvest. What a tournament!

Fred Lucas had put out some stunning photography from the recent Bilboa tournament won by Veselin Topalov. Lucas is the preeminent chess photographer and I would rate him at the top of the mountain. His lighting tricks are amazing. Pufichek (Diego Garces, http://www.chesspics.com) does good work too, but not as creative. However, his portraits are very nice!

The China vs. Russia match is in progress with China crushing Russia again so far. The entire Chinese men’s Olympiad team is in full force. Russia is led by Peter Svidler. Of course neither Alexandra Kosteniuk or Hou Yifan are participating having just finished the Women’s World Championship. China stands a strong chance for Olympiad gold this year. Is there any more doubt that China is a chess power?

There is an interesting article by Manisha Mohite about Koneru Humpy’s failure to win the women’s title. On one hand it is not fair to criticize, but she was the #1 seed in the tournament. In my observation, she didn’t seem like herself. Her play was tenative and there was something I sensed from the pictures I saw. She seem to have something on her mind. At only 22, she has a bright future, but Hou Yifan is only going to get better and will be gunning for the title in two years.

Russia won the China vs. Russia match losing the standard time control 14½-10½, but crushing China 13-7 in the rapid and 14-6 in the blitz. The women tied in the three with Russia winning the standard 13½-11½, losing rapid 14½-10½ and blitz 11-9.

Not certain what kind of scoring system used… the final score is not given but Russia won overall.

GM Pentala Harikrishna of India won the SPICE Cup tournament on tiebreaks over three over GMs. All had +2 on 5½-3½. GM Susan Polgar hosted the event at Texas Tech where she runs a chess institute. Her site gave tremendous coverage and it appeared to be a successful event. Indians continue to perform well in the United States.